Duchess Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (19 November 1779 – 4 January 1801) was the maternal grandmother of Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.
Louise Charlotte was born Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, her father being Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Her mother was Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg; her sister Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1784–1840) married King Christian VIII of Denmark.
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Early life
Born on 19 November 1779 in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Duchess Louise Charlotte was the second child and eldest surviving daughter of Frederick Francis I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and his wife, Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
She grew up and was raised at her parents' court in Mecklenburg, alongside her siblings. She enjoyed a rather more informal childhood than was usual for royal children during the time.
Gustav IV
On 1 November 1795, Louise Charlotte was engaged to King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, the son of Gustav III of Sweden and Sophia Magdalena of Denmark. The engagement was arranged by Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm, the de facto regent of Sweden, who wished to keep his influence after the monarch was declared of legal majority by having a queen indebted to him for her position. The king himself was initially positive; the engagement was celebrated in the courts of Sweden and Mecklenburg, and Louise Charlotte was mentioned in the official church prayer in Sweden. Empress Catherine the Great, however, wished her granddaughter Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia to be Queen of Sweden, and displayed dislike of the engagement. Catherine herself wrote: